truth

For many in my generation a lie is simply an incongruity between actuality and what is presented verbally. Truth then just becomes when words and ideas match up with experienced reality. Daniel Masterson is an effective dating coach but more than that he is a truth teller. He had a (sadly now defunct) website that told men the 14 things they needed if they ever wanted to get laid. They were good practical things like good shoes, grooming, cloths, sociability, etc.. Someone on one of the AMA’s he was doing (an AMA is a sort of online interview on the social media site Reddit) called him Jesus. Because he told the truth.

It’s not a surprise that our generation has a tough time with religion. Religion gives you a definition of truth (basically what they say truth is) and forces you to work backwards from it, evidence be darned. It makes things even more unfair than they already are because while those who suffer the least can get through life on bad information fine, those who suffer more cannot. For example you are expected to romanticize suffering and pretend God is there with you (some people can play cognitive tricks and make this work but many cannot and those who cannot are guilted instead of helped). Belief in climate change is another issue, though there is nothing keeping a religious person from believing in human created climate change, the methodology of having things pushed in your brain via force and conditioning rather than rational inquiry makes you susceptible to accepting other comforting irrational ideas.